Apparatus for shaping the edges of wall board or the like



- Dec. 27, 1927. l. 1,654,024'

J. J. TURNER APPARATUS EUR SHAPING THE EnGEs oF WALL BOARD 0R THE LmJ Filed May 1v, 1%24 Patented Dem 27, 1927.

UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN LT. TURNER, OF BATAVIA, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO UNIVERSAL GYPSUM @o LIME GO., OIE' CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

APIARATTJ'S FOR SHllrHllllC-r 'EI-1E EDG-ES 01 EVALL BOARD OR THE LIKE.

Application filed May 17, 1924. Serial No. 713,960.

rlhis intention relates to alnliaratus tor sha-ping the edges oit Wall board or the lilre.

7lllall hoard used principally a sub stitnte tor latli and plaster in the iinishing oit interior Walls. lt is iinportant that the hoard be ot uni'liorni Athickness and that the edges bo true and square so that adjacent boards may be brought into abutting position with as little space as possible between their ineeting edges.

'lhe manufacture ot Wall board is ordinar ily continuously carried out by advancing, in soaced relation, two coyering sheets between which a 'plastic material capable ot setting into a roclr-lilre inass is placed. The boardwinay be torn'ied with open edges at its sides, in which case the two sheets oit covering material are ot substantially the saine Width; or, .it inay be torined with enclosed e lges at its sides, in which case one ot the covering sheets usually ol' suilicient Width to pei-init its :marginal portions to be turnod around the edges oit the plastic material and to be brought into lapping engagement with the inaii'ginal portions ot the other sheet.

'lhe plastic niaterial is usually distributed unitorinly between the two sheets oit cover ing material by carrying the product botween two compression rollers on a long, endlss conveyor belt. lllhen the board is inade with an open edge special means employed to hold the plastic material between the covering sheets until it beconies substantially seit-sustaining, but when the board is provided with closed edges the turned around niargins ot the Wide sheet are relied on to retain the plastic inaterial properly between the covering sheets. At the tiine the prod-- uct is passed between the compression rollers the material torniing the core quite .fl llt requires considerable tiine for the plastic inaterial to harden suliii-iently for it to hold shape, consequently, it production oit` the board is to be maintained at a lair rate the` belt inust travel lairly tast and be of very considerable length. .lt is not practical to provide ineans along the oit the moving board to hold the plastic inaterial properly in between the covering sheets 'tor any considerable distance or until the hardens sul'liciently to be ventirely seltsusN taining. lllntil the plastic material hardens sutliciently to becoine entirely self-sustaining, it tends to sag or settle at its marginal edges and thelnaterial tends to bulge out'at the material edges, consequently, the edges heroine inisshapod and the marginal portions ot the board are not of uniform thickness lilethc niain part ther-cot. One of the objects ot .niy inif'ontion is to provide means to engage the sido edges of the board, at a point Where the plastic material forming the core o the board is in a sutliciently semi-hardened con dition to hold its shape but plastic enough to be reshaped, and which is adapted to reshape or square up the edges of the board so that the finished product will have a true edge disposed substantially at a right angle to the tace oit' the board.

I have *found that the edge ot the board n'iay be reshaped or straightened by providing a shoe positioned at the proper place and disposed substantially at right angles to the tace ot the board to bear against the edge. Such a shoe, under suiiiient pressure, Will e'tlectiyely redistribute the plastic material at the edge olI the board so that the odge will be square, but unless sonie incans is provided adjacent the shoe to boar against the upper face oit the `marginal portion ot the board, the portion atoresaid likely to be lett with ridges or uneven places due to the pushing bach ot the plastic material by the shoe. It is a further object of iny invention, therelore, to provide in combination with the shoe aforesaid a shoe disposed at right angles to the lirstdialnod shoe and which is adapted to ride on the marginal portion ol' the upper tace ot the board to maintain said portion smooth and even. e

It is not practical to provide a ronyeyor belt for the board 1vhich operates absolutely true; there is bound to be some movement ol the belt first to one side and then to the other. rllho board is quite heavy and consequently nieves laterally with the belt. It is a further object olf my invention to provi d e supporting means ior the i 'eslia} iing inenfibers which is ot such construction that it 'will n'iaintain said members under the de ed gji'essure but permit lateral nun/'ement thereot to taire care of any lateral inoyeinentol the belt. e

The time required for 'the plastic n'iiriture to set varies considerably and is largely de pendent on the hind, quantity and quality ol the several ingredients used. Then the plastic material sets quickly it is desirable to pla-.e the shoe 4bearing against the edge of the board under greater pressure than is the case when the material sets slowly. Another objectot' my invention is to provide means whereby the amount of pressure exerted by the shoe bearing against the vertical edge ofithe board may be conveniently -varied to suit the condition 4of thevproduct at the time it passes the reshaping device.

The invention consists in the'novel constructions, arrangements and devices to be hereinafter described and claimed for carrying ont the vabove stated objects and such other objects asvvill appear from the toilowing description of a certain preferred embodiment illustrated in the accompanying drawings Wherein- Fig. 1 is a plan view of a. 'fragmentary portion otV apparatus embodying the Vprina top covering sheet ot' paper 8 and a bottom covering sheet ot paper 9, the sheet 9 being` of sufficient width to permit its marginal portions ,9L to be turned around the respective'edge's 10 ot the core vand to be brought y into lapping engagement with lthe marginal portions of the sheet 8. The wall board is carried forwardly, in the direction indicated bv the arrows,.on an endless conveyor belt which travels over a suitable support 1Q.

A supporting member 13 is provided along eachside 'of the conveyor belt (only one being shown). An arm 14e is pivotully mounted on each otl the members 13 by a bolt 15` A vertically disposed shoe 1G is 'fastened to the sides of' a. pair of inverted U-shaped members 17. The members 17 straddle the forward end of the supporting arm 14 and are fastened thereto by thumb screws 18. The rear end 1G of the slice is `bent divergently with respect to the edge oit the board. A horizontally disposed shoe 1S) is positioned adjacent the shoe 16 and is adapted to ride Vonthe marginal portionlo't the upper face of the board. The slice 1E) isv provided With aV vertical supporting portion Qt), the latter having vertically disposed slots 21 which Vare ladaptedjto receive the respective .ends of bolts 22 which passv through .apertures 23 provided in thepshoe member 16. thumb .nuts Q9. being` provided ontlie bolts 22 whereby the shoe iieilbl', 19 lQrai-sed or lowered relative tothe slioefmember 1li-and secured in rear end of the shoe 19 is preferably turned up. A bracket member 2li is fixed to the side otthe supporting member 133, the upper end of said bracket member extending sulA stantially vertically and being provided with an open ended slot 2th One cnd ot a spring 25 is attached to the rear end olI the arm 14, therother end of said spring being attached to a. 'chain 26. Any link o1 the chain may be slipped into the slot 2l ot the bracket member when the link is positioned properly to slip into the slot.

The shaping devices are prcterabhv mounted on the respective sides` of' the ma chine at a point suliiciently in advance ot the receiving end of the belt that by the time the board reaches the shaping devices the plastic material forming the core thereot will have hardened sutiicicntly to bc self-- sustaining and yet plastic enough to be rcshaped. The shoe 16 is placed under `sutlicient tension to redistribute so unich ot the plastic material at the edge of the board as may be necessary to make the edge truc and at substantially a right angle to the tace ot' the board. By loosening the thumb nuts the shoe 1t) may be adjusted to bear with sutiicient pressure on the marginal portions of thc upper tace of the board so that said portions will be held to a thicknessy substantially equal to the other parts ol the board and will be le't't smooth and even. lu the case of a board having an enclosed edge the marginal portions of the bottom sheet. which are brought around into hmping engagement with the marginal portions ot the top sheet, are held down tirmly so that thc lapping portions do not become unsealcd vfhilc the plastic material is beiner redistributed at the edge of the core. Lateral movement ol the traveling belt docsnot interfere with thc proper operation ol` the shaping members because the pivotcd arms readily permit thc edge shaping menibcrs to move laterally with the travelingr board. hooking the chain Btl at dili'crent points to the bracket arm 2st thc pressure on the .shoe 1G may be faried to suit thc condition ot' the material in the core at the time it passes the shaping elements.

I do not intend to limit my invention to the details ot construction shown and dcscribed, except only in so f: as certain oll the appended claims are specifically so limi'ted` as it will be obvious that modifications may be made vvithout departingr from the principles of my invention.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for shaping the edge of a product the body o tl which is in a semihardened condition. comprising. in combination, supporting means for the product. shapinginea-ns. one'of said means being movable relative to ythe other, yieldable means for *maintaining said shaping means in till loo

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working contact with said edge, and means for adjusting said yieldable means for varying the effective pressure thereby on the edge of the body.

2. if-rpparatfus for shaping the edge of a. product the body of which is in a semihardened condition, comprising, in combination, supporting means for the product, pivoted means, one of said means being movable forwardly relative to the other, a shaping member mounted on said pivoted means, yieldable means for n'iaintaining said pivoted means so that said shaping member is in Working contact with said edge, and means for varying the effective pressure of said yieldable means on the edge of said product.

Apparatus for shaping the edge of a product the body of which in a semiliardened condition, comprising, in combination, a supporting structure, traveling means on said structure for carrying the product, an arm pivoted on a vertical axis on said structure at one side of the traveling` means, a shaping member mounted on said arm and adapted to engage edge, and resilient means connecting said arm with said structure for holding said shaping member yieldingly in Contact With the side edge of the product.

et. Apparatus for slm} ing the edge of a product the body of which is in a semiliardel'ied condition, comprising, in combination, a supporting structure, traveling means on said structure for carrying the product, an arm pivoted on said structure, a shaping member mounted on said arm and adapted to engage said edge, resilient means coi'mccting said arm With said structure, and a shoe adjustable vertically on the inner face of said shaping member.

o. rlipparatus for shaping the edge of a product the body of which is in a semi lnudcned condition, comprising, in combi.n nation, a supporting structure, traveling means on said structure for carrying the product, an arm pivoted on a vertical axis on said structure, a shaping member mounted on said arm and adapted to engage said edge, resilient means comiected with said arm. and means iuljuslably connecting said resilient means with said structure for varying tbe effective pressure of the shaping member against the sidc edge of the body.

G. Au apparatus for shaping the edge o f a product 'the body of which is in a semi hardened condition, comprising in combination a supporting structure, traveling means on said. structure for carrying the product, an arm pivotally mounted on a vertical axis at one side of the traveling carrier and eX- tending forwardly in converging rela-tion with respect to said traveling carrier, shaping means mounted on the forward end of said arm in position to engage the edge of the product on said carrier, and resilient means connected with said arm for holding the shaping means yieldingly :in contact with the edge of the product. p

7. An apparatus for shaping the edge of a product the body of which is in a semi hardened condition, comprising in combination a supporting structure, traveling means on said structure for carrying the product, an arm pivotally mounted on a vertical axis at one side of the traveling carrier and ei;- tending forwardly in converging relation with respect to said t 'aveling carrier, shaping means `in the form of a vertically disposed plate adapted to be held rigidly on the forward end of said arm in position to engage the edge of the product on said carrier, and resilient means connectedfwith said arm for holding the plate yieldingly in contact with the edge of the product.

8. An apparatus for shaping the edge of a product the body of which is in a semihardened conditioin comprising in combination a supportingl structure, traveling means on said structure for carrying the product, an arm pivotally mounted on a vertical axis at one side oil' the traveling carrier and extending' forwardly in converging relation with respect to said traveling carrier, sliep ing means in the form of a vertically disposed plate adjustable vertically on the :forward end of said arm in position to engage the edge of the product on said carrier, and resilient means connected Withsaid arm for holding the plate yieldingly in contact With the edge of the product.

9. An apparatus for shaping the edge of a product the body of which in a semi hardened condition, comprising in combination a supporting structure, traveling means on said structure for carrying the product, an arm pivotally mounted on a vertical at one side of the traveling carrier and eX- tending .forwardly in converging relation with respect to said traveling carrier, shap ing means in the form of a vei'ti ';ally disposed platc adapted to be held rigidly on the forward end of said arm in position to age the edge of tbe proifluct on said cara shoe in the form ol a born n ly disposed plate adjustable vertically on s id vertically disposed plate in position to en gage the top face of the product on the carrier, and resilient means connected willi said arm for holding the vertically disposed plate yieldingly .in contact with tbe edge of the product.

JOHN J. TUltNEl-t.

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